Lister Wants To Turn The F-Pace Into The World’s Fastest SUV

This week, Lister lifted the wraps off the Thunder, the British automaker’s first production car in 25 years since the Storm. Just as the Storm was based on the Jaguar XKJ, the Lister Thunder is essentially a freakishly fast F-Type, packing a modified version of its signature supercharged 5.0-liter V8 with its power cranked up to a devilish 666 hp. So what will come after the Thunder? According to an interview with Top Gear, the Lister Lightning is next on the agenda. Even though lightning technically comes before thunder, but we jest.

Turns out Lister has the Lamborghini Urus firmly in its sights, as the automaker is plotting to turn the Jaguar F-Pace into the fastest SUV in the world for its next model. “I think it’s something we can do a really good job of,” Lister boss Lawrence Whittaker told Top Gear. “The likes of Overfinch don’t focus on engine mods anymore. We focus on making cars as fast as humanly possible. We want to be tuning every element.” Whittaker hinted that the Lister Lightning could be more powerful than the 666-hp Thunder, but adding too much power could cause reliability issues. Even so, if the Lightning is as fast as the Thunder its output will still be higher than the current fastest SUV in the world, the 641-hp Lamborghini Urus.

Lister claims that the F-Type-based Thunder has a top speed of 208 mph too, so the Lightning could also beat the Urus’s 190-mph top speed. Don’t assume that Lister will be cramming V8 engines into the V6-powered F-Pace, however. Instead, the automaker is waiting for Jaguar to launch a V8-powered F-Pace which is likely to come in the form of the F-Pace SVR. Sources suggest the hardcore F-Pace will debut at the New York Auto Show in the spring with over 575 horsepower on tap, while Whittaker suggests that the Lightning will be available in September so we should see the F-Pace SVR go on sale sooner rather than later.

Does Lister have anything else in the pipeline? “We are not working on any other models as yet,” Whittaker confirmed. “But there’s no reason why we wouldn’t offer a tuning option on every Jaguar model, that’s our aim eventually. I’d love to do something on a new XK, but I’ve heard that’s not happening now, which is a shame.” Lister’s ultimate goal, however, is to build a 1,000-hp hypercar as a reimagining of the Storm, but those are costly to develop. For now, you’ll continue to see the automaker focus on tuning existing Jaguar models.